IN NATURE of Nov. 5, 1927, one of us (J. H. O.) described experiments on the rate at which that rough whelk-tingle, which is abundant on the oyster beds in the River Blackwater, devoured young oysters. In continuing these experiments, it was suddenly realised that the whelk-tingle from this locality is undoubtedly not, as stated (loc. cit.), Ocinebra erinacea (= Murex erinaceus, L.), although it is a closely related form. It was, moreover, found impossible to identify it with any form described in literature on, or present in a representative collection of, British shells. When it was established with certainty that this common Blackwater shell is not a British form, Winckworth was soon able to identify it from radula and shell-characters as Urosalpinx cinerea (Say), the American oyster pest. |
